At far end of W paddock in Elderberry tree – 2 imm Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Dunnock. 20 Sand Martin around the lakes.

1 Lesser Whitethroat in scrub on RHS beyond the dragonfly pond. 4 fem/imm Common Whitethroat in the W paddock hedgerow. 50+ Sand Martin and 1 House Martin. 1 Buzzard flew into the edge of Cogan Wood. GCG pair still with 2 half brown humbugs.

100+ Sand Martin over W lake in heavy rain this morning and a lone Swift.

Reported to me via email – a Nightjar was heard last night at dusk on Old Casle Down. It was calling from the left hand side of the common near the ridge off Pen y Lan road.

Near the Penarth end of the coast path just E. of the big field, 1 Garden Warbler and a few Chiffchaff. A little farther west, 2 Greenfinch and 12 House Sparrow. o/w pretty quiet.

Reported this a.m. Pied Fly in trees by st davids hotel also Garden wblr, lsr whitetheoat and 20 blackcap.

A few Gannets reported this morning offshore at Lavernock and Cardiff including one in Cardiff Bay.

Rather late doing a sea watch [other commitments] so from 13:10 to about 14:15, just 3 Fulmar, and 2 Gannet [1 ad and 1 2nd yr] down channel from the searchlight ‘shelter’, which felt as if it would be blown off its foundations at times! Much earlier, Phil Bristow had 2 Arctic Skuas, a single Storm Petrel, many Manxie, and a flock of Common Scoter, all d/c.

A single Common Sandpiper along the embankment by Penarth Marina/R. Ely mouth this morning, plus 100’s of Hirundines over the water, mostly Sand Martin but House Martins mixed in [active nest noted on house near the Penarth Marina outer lock gates] but no doubt plenty of others. Also whilst on the Barrage I noted about 6 Swifts feeding over the water.

In W paddock, flock of c.15 Long-tailed Tits with 3+ Willow Warbler and some Blue Tits. Also folk of 20+ Goldfinch with at least 2 Greenfinch in attendance. 1 Green Woodpecker in W paddock. On W lake near the bridge a pair of Little Grebe with 2 very small chicks – either a second brood or another pair, as there was a full grown imm a few weeks ago. Ad fem Blackbird feeding a fully grown youngster between the cafe and the office building. Think they have nested in nearby bramble.

An imm male Common Redstart was a nice surprise in a hawthorn bush south of the dragonfly pond near the lower gap in the W paddock hedgerow. It flew off into the nearby edge of Cogan Wood. Also 1 Willow Warbler, ad Green Woodpecker in W paddock on the dragonfly pond side of the hedge, and a pair of Gt Crested Grebes on E lake with 2 half grown young. These are either a second brood for the pair that had a single surviving chick raised to maturity earlier, or a late brood from another pair. Had no idea there was another nest.

Amazing find by Gareth Stamp this aft of a Manx Shearwater in Cardiff Bay, reported c.16.30. I eventually found it sitting on the water offshore by the Environment building, viewing from the Ice Rink boardwalk. It was still there at 6 and looked settled so maybe will stay overnight.

Also present were a few Swift, and plenty of House and Sand Martins over the water.

Some passerine activity again, this time along the central west paddock hedgerow this morning with a party of Long-tailed Tits accompanied again by Willow Warbler, Blue Tits, a Greenfinch! , a few Linnets and Goldfinch. The Wren popped up near me by the central viewpoint along the main path. Didn’t realise until I looked at the photo on the computer that in my first shot of it, it had a Harvestman in its beak. Just liked the juv Moorhen pretending to be a skulky rare Crake! And the last one, a Devil’s Coach Horse Beetle {Ocypus olens} a species of rove beetle. Haven’t seen one for ages. Also had 3 Painted Ladies in a brief visit b4 rushing off to the dentist!

A little action today. A party of around 10 Long-tailed Tits, mostly juvs, together with a few Phyllosc warblers including what was at least one Willow Warbler as per photo, plus two Painted Lady butterflies. Many other less too – Meadow Browns, Red Admiral x 4, lots of 6-Spot Burnet moths. Emperor, Common Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer dragons at the dipping pond.

An imm Blackcap was in bushes beyond the dragonfly pond this morning and there were a few Goldfinch. Dipping pond had ovipositing Emperor, plus Common Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer. Butterflies incl Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Common Blue and Small Skipper.

Again pretty quiet for birds. A flock of around 30 Linnet were feeding on the ‘hill’ behind the dragonfly pond, the first I’ve seen at the park for quite some time – they were too skittish for a photo. Also in the same area a group of immature Long-tailed Tits. W lake had a single adult Little Grebe and a few Black-headed Gulls and there were 5 Tufted Duck on E lake. A few pix below including some non-avian wildlife.

The usual suspects bird-wise. 3 GC Grebes on W lake and an ad Little Grebe. No show by any Water Voles but lots of Emperor dragonflies. Also quite a few of what I think are Meadow Grasshoppers – see pic. Click on each pic for a full sized one. Fab year for flowers too – no in flower is Centaury, Yellow Wort, Common Melilot, Ladies Bedstraw, and lots of Common Fleabane and Wild Parsnip.

Pretty blustery this morning. c.20 Sand Martin, 1 Swift and a few Swallows feeding over W lake, Green ‘Pecker calling from nr Medieval Village, a few butterflies despite the wind – Meadow Brown, 6-Spot Burnet moth x 2, Small Skipper, Ringlet, and 1 Common Blue.

This evening’s GBC/RSPB walk [18th Jul] to see the swift tower and to learn a bit about the project, was well attended with 25 participants, for which thanks folks. We started at the Penarth end and Alan Rosney have a short introduction. Then we walked slowly across to the Cardiff side, and saw a number of Swift which gradually drifted higher and towards upper Penarth. A Raven was on the Bay shoreline. Across the other side we assembled by the tower, which is just beyond the environment building, and Alan talked in more detail about the project and its aims, and how the tower is set up, and also what other actions are being taken to encourage swifts to nest in our area. Afterwards, we went further along to the old Roath Basin dock where the Sand Martin colony was still pretty active. We also saw 2 Peregrines flying past over the channel, and some pretty large gatherings of Starlings [max one was about 100 birds]. Also in the shoreline bushes a Common Whitethroat gave good views as it scolded a tabby cat. An impressive ‘sun dog’ in the clouds, and a stunning sunset concluded a very pleasant evening. 

A few from a quick visit this morning. A couple of Tufted Duck [not photo’d] were a reminder that autumn is coming soon. There were three ad Little Grebes which was quite interesting. I have only been aware of 1 pair and there was an imm bird the other day. Other than that there an imm Crow ‘playing’ with a bit of old black plastic tubing in E paddock [see pic]. The awful pic was taken 2 days ago when I saw an ad Song Thrush feeding three fully grown young. Unfortunately the camera was on the wrong setting when I grabbed the pic and came out completely under-exposed, but I managed to recover a rather grainy image.